Author: Christophe Bruchansky

January 2023 Jacuzzi, American company founded in 1915 and family name of its Italian founders. What would be the mechanical production of bubbles without this brand’s exotic sound? On a visit to a badehaus, we soak in a Jacuzzi as if to immerse ourselves in a exotic culture that is all made up, featuring spa rituals, fake wood textures and plastic plants. Read the rest

February 2023 If my body were a temple, what might such a worship place look like? Perhaps it would look like Cleopatra’s temple from a 1980s French soap advertisement—bathed in solitude within a pharaonic bath, flanked by towering columns and Egyptian statues. Read the rest

March 2023 Fake Nordic chalets, cabins and stone ovens… Means of survival turned into wellness rituals… Badehaus and gay saunas are self-proclaimed exotic places. All united in our hedonistic quest, all naked, from all origins and ages. Read the rest

May 2023 Steam baths of gay saunas are the realm of silhouettes par excellence: of bodies with blurred shapes. When we are in there, we feel an indistinct presence, both alone and observed, naked and invisible. Read the rest

August 2023 What fascinates us so much in ruins? Their longevity or decay? A bit of both probably, and this fascination is nowhere more visible today than in spas, badehaus and sauna complexes. Read the rest

August 2023 Dark corridors of gay saunas are the playing field of men seeking pleasure with other men. Les couloirs obscurs des saunas gays sont les terrains de jeux des mecs en quête de plaisir. Read the rest

August 2023 Cabins are the only places of privacy in gay saunas. They are the only places where the other matters: not the dick or the silhouette but a specific guy. Read the rest

August 2023 Dressing at the exit of a sauna is a bit like putting on the costume of a walk-on role. I imprison my body under layers of clothes and take my old habits. Read the rest